289 AC
To Eddard Stark, Warden of the North.
For a time, your lands were selling good iron and steel ingots and tools in the South. After your visit to King's Landing, those sales abruptly stopped. According to Lord Varys, you have shifted to selling almost exclusively in Essos. The Crown finds this state of affairs to be unacceptable. That iron and steel is desperately needed in Westeros, and you will certainly find a better price here than across the Narrow Sea.
I understand relations between the North and the Crown are strained, but there is no need for this behavior. Show a little goodwill to your old friend King Robert and to myself, your old mentor, and soon the King's ire will fade.
Signed,
Jon Arryn,
Hand of the King
To Jon Arryn, Hand of the King.
Past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior. Why would I continue to sell my goods in the South when, going by the past actions of the King, the Small Council, and yourself, it will only result in more tariffs being levied against the North? It is not in the North's interest to both sell you my goods and hand over the profits from the sale.
King Robert's ire has no bearing on this decision; mine does. The King and Queen insult and disregard me, and the whole of the North, even after I spent blood and treasure to put the King on the Iron Throne. My efforts to ensure my vassals and smallfolk do not starve to death in the coming winters are less important to the King than his next tourney or his next goblet of wine.
So long as the Crown seeks to stifle Northern prosperity, we will seek commerce elsewhere. However, we understand the financial hardship the Crown is experiencing at this time. If King Robert is willing to listen to my concerns by reducing the tariff on luxuries to one part in ten and lifting the tariff on cloth, the North would be willing to resume commerce with the South.
Signed,
Eddard Stark
Warden of the North
To Eddard Stark, Warden of the North.
If you understand the Crown's situation, then you understand why we had to implement the tariffs. The Crown understands that such a high tariff on cloth is restrictive to the free flow of commerce. In deference to your loyalty to King Robert, we are willing to reduce the tariff on cloth to two parts in ten.
The Crown does not wish the death of Northmen in the coming winter, nor do we seek to insult one of the Crown's most important allies. As such, King Robert has sent a token of his esteem with the courier bearing this letter. We wish you well on your future endeavors, and look forward to seeing Northern iron in our markets once more.
Signed,
Jon Arryn,
Hand of the King
"Well well," I told Ned with a twinkle in my eye as I set the letter down. "A token of the King's esteem, hmm? What did he send?"
"Four stallions," Ned replied. "Two Reacher destriers and two Stormlands coursers."
"Oh?" I asked, my eyes widening. "Stallions? Not geldings?"
"Stallions," he confirmed.
"That is a fine gift," I murmured. Looking up at him, I asked, "What do you plan to do with them?"
"I know that look in your eyes," he said with a wry grin. "What do you have in mind?"
"A stud farm, of course," I replied. "If we breed the destriers and coursers with hardy Northern horses, we'll be able to improve the quality of the North's warhorses. Even better, we can mix the descendants of the destriers with the coursers and, with a little luck, get a horse with the strength of a destrier and the speed of a courser, all with the resilience of a Northern horse."
"That'll take time," he cautioned me. "Still, better horses would help our cavalry…"
"I'll find someone who knows about horse breeding and see what I can set up," I replied. "But onto other matters; what do you think of the letter?"
"I think Jon Arryn is once more covering for Robert's mistakes," he said, frowning. "It seems they're tossing a few crumbs my way in hopes of getting access to your iron and steel once more."
"But they've started negotiating," I pointed out. "If they're willing to concede at least a little bit, that means you have room to pry a few more concessions out of them. If you can get the cloth and luxuries down to around one part in ten, we could start trading directly with the South again, and much of our lost revenue would return."
"I don't think I'll be able to get the Small Council to drop it that low," Ned doubtfully replied.
"Then perhaps offer them a small tariff, perhaps one part in twenty, on the price of our iron and steel?" I offered. "Even if that tariff only targets the North, with how well the blast furnaces work, we could still undercut any mine or smelter in the South, even if prices return to where they used to be."
"I suppose…" Ned sighed. "I hate all of this. Politics. Plots and plans, betrayals and intrigues, negotiations and extortion… There's no honor in it."
For all that I admired and respected him as a man and as a lord, his honor and sense of justice was not adequate for the nature of politics in Westeros. Politics was an extension of war by other means, and all warfare was based on deception. I'd need to carefully guide Ned to the right conclusions. So, I took a moment to gather my words before I spoke.
"The nature of mankind is to be selfish, Ned. In every person, there is the capacity for the greatest of goods and the worst of evils. We are driven to survive, and in many cases that drive pushes people to improve their own situation, even if it's at the expense of others. Power is, at its core, the ability to impose one's will on others, either through force, the threat of force, or through coercion and deception," I explained. "With power, it is tempting to impose upon others a situation that is more beneficial for oneself; thus, power leads to corruption. Politics is, unfortunately, a method for gathering 'soft' power, of turning others' desires, greed, or beliefs to your own ends. It may not be as obvious as 'hard' power, the power of one's armies and the threat of war, but it is no less effective. I think… we should be conscious of the North's 'soft' power, and ensure that we're not in a situation where we can be imposed upon in the future."
Ned furrowed his brow, looking upset and cautious. "What do you mean?"
"I think… we should consider forming alliances, Ned," I answered, my voice soft. "We have a strong alliance with the Riverlands, of course, but I feel this break with the King and, to a lesser extent, the Vale, has weakened our position. We have no voice on the Small Council, and neither does the Riverlands; we have no real say in the affairs of the Crown. Our trade and commerce have given us a measure of soft power in the South, but without other Kingdoms standing at our side, we will be seen as supplicants to be exploited by those who have influence with the Crown."
"Robb is too young to be betrothed," Ned replied, dismissing my concerns.
"I agree, but I'm not speaking about betrothals quite yet," I replied.
"Then what do you have in mind?"
"We can start by establishing good trade relations," I answered. "I received word from one of the ship captains of the East Winds; Dorne is ripe for trade, especially in iron, steel, and timber. They're also always buying food, but their relations with the Reach are strained; our allies in the Riverlands could easily supply all the grain they need. Dorne is rich in trade and luxury goods; spices, fruits, and silks, so it's not like we wouldn't find goods to bring back North."
"Allying with Dorne would further distance ourselves from the Crown," Ned pointed out.
"Aye, but King Robert is doing a fine enough job of pushing us away on his own," I countered.
"Dorne holds no love for the North," he insisted. "They see us as 'the Usurper's dogs' since we helped put Robert on the throne. And with the situation between Rhaegar and Lyanna…"
"Perhaps," I sighed. "If Dorne is not interested, we could try aligning with the Reach. They, too, need iron and steel, and likely would appreciate good Northern timber. And while we're not hurting for grain anymore, Reacher vegetables and other produce would certainly be welcome in the North."
"Perhaps," Ned murmured. "But they, too, fought on the other side in Robert's Rebellion; we may find it difficult to establish good relations."
"There's also the Iron Islands-"